To Fly
by LeaO'Neill
Summary: A road trip gone wrong. Or is it?


Title: To Fly

Author: Lea O'Neill

Catagory: Romance/ Drama

Pairing: Jack/other Rating:G Seasson: any

Spoilers: none

Summary: Jack and Nicole are on a road trip gone wrong. Or is it?

Disclaimer:Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The original characters, situations and story are property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without author consent.  
Comments: Thanks to my Beta reader Julie for all her hard work, additions and help with changes.

* * *

To Fly  
  
Colonel Jack O'Neill and fiancée Major Nicole Walker enjoyed their free time. They never seemed to have enough of it, with Jack busy leading his SG-1 team and Nicole teaching certification classes at NORAD. So when they got time away from the Mountain, they used it.  
  
Over the four day weekend both were being treated to, Jack and Nicki had driven her classic 1966 Mustang down to New Mexico where she'd taken second place, Mustang Division, in a classic car show in Albuquerque. The show had been held on historic Route 66 and cars of all kinds had been entered. There had been a street dance and everyone who participated had been encouraged to dress the era of his or her car. Nicki had donned love beads and a Technicolor dress, while persuading Jack to wear a black leather jacket, jeans and dark sunglasses. He looked more like he belonged with the 1959 T Bird, but she didn't care. She'd secretly wanted him to wear the James Dean-esque outfit just for her benefit.  
  
Despite the prize showing of her car and the days off, Nicki was not in a good mood as they drove. She was tense and her stress showed in her tightened jaw. She could not say exactly what the cause was; perhaps she just wasn't ready to get back to work. Or maybe it had something to do with Jack and the talk they'd had last night about Nicki taking another off world mission. Jack was against it. It wouldn't be with his team, that went without saying; due to their relationship, he could not be her commanding officer. But he didn't want her to go, period. Sure, Nicki conceded, she'd had some bad luck in her off-world adventures: she'd been shot on her first time through the Gate, she and Jack had been marooned on a jungle planet for two days and been hunted by Jaffa. But Nicki was optimistic. Jack was not. He was at a point where he was having difficulty accepting a separation between duty and personal feelings. It was not a place he found himself in often. So they'd disagreed. They could not come to an agreement on Nicki's assignment. And they'd gone to bed both still feeling a little angry and the problem yet unresolved.  
They still had two days of leave left and were headed back to Colorado Springs. They were tooling along, Nicki at the wheel, passing huge hay fields and quaint farms. She was taking out her aggression on the road, not driving above the posted speed limits, but still handling the car in the tight turns and cresting hills like she was a NASCAR driver. It was her way of dealing with emotions she wasn't used to having.  
Jack admired the scenery, not being ready to resume their discussion. He knew he had to draw the line. What was Nicole's job remained her job, no matter what his feelings were for her. But how the hell was he supposed to tell her that?  
  
They had talked some, about nothing of importance, both avoiding the issue. But for the last 20 miles, they had been mostly silent. And then with a loud bang! the back tire blew out.  
Nicki guided the car with precision and eased it to the side of the road. Jack didn't say a word as they rolled to a stop, but he did look at Nicki, an eyebrow raised. The look on her face was priceless. She was definitely more perturbed than before.  
  
Jack and Nicki got out to survey the damage.  
  
"Damn," Nicki said. "I just bought these tires."  
  
"Well, I'd get a refund on this one if I were you," Jack said, opening the trunk.  
  
Between the two of them, they had the flat off and the spare on in minutes. Things were looking up. Until Nicki lowered the car down off the jack.  
  
With a hissing noise, the spare began to go flat.  
  
Jack made a face and surveyed the tire. "Hmmm. You didn't buy a spare with the new tires, did you?" he observed.  
  
She stood, hands on her hip, giving him a dirty look, as if somehow this were his fault. "No, I didn't buy a spare."  
  
"Well, when's the last time you used this one?"  
  
She shrugged. As if anyone keeps track? She pointed that out.  
  
Jack shrugged. "Tire's flat," he then told her, in that irritating monotone of Jack O'Neill-ese. He infuriated her by stating the obvious.  
  
"I see that," Nicki agreed, her jaw clenching, trying not to become more perturbed than she was.  
  
Nicki went to the front of the car to use her cell phone. Only to find the frustrating message "No Service" on the display window.  
She cursed and tossed the phone back into her bag.  
  
"We're out of cell range."  
  
He shoved his hands in his pockets. They had chosen the 'scenic byway'. They hadn't seen a car the whole 73 miles they'd just come. And the mountains were now blocking the use of the cell phone. This wasn't exactly turning out as planned.  
  
"Well, looks like we hoof it," Jack said, grabbing his jacket from the car.  
"To where?" Nicki asked, still irritated because she knew this was not the way she had planned their weekend. Jack was being smug. She was being stubborn.

"There was that farm a mile or so back."  
  
Nicki sighed. There was really nothing else they could do. They might sit here all day without another car passing by.  
  
Well, at least it was a nice day for a walk.  
  
She grabbed her bag and jacket from the car, made sure it was locked, and then began walking.  
Jack fell into step beside her.  
They'd gone a few hundred yard in silence, Nicki growing more irritated with Jack's ignorant bliss to her consternation. "So just say it!" she finally burst out, unable to hold her annoyance with him any longer.  
Jack cocked his head and gave her a smile. "Say what?"

He had the ill grace to smile at her, the insensitive lout! Nicole gaped at him, stunned by his insensitivity. "Say 'I told you we should have stayed on the freeway', 'I told you to buy a new spare', 'I was right, you were wrong.' 'I don't want you to go on the mission.'"

"All that?" Jack asked, a hint of laughter in his eyes.  
"Sometimes you infuriate me Jack!" She stomped off a few feet, crossing her arms in front of her, breathing in ragged breaths of frustration and anger at his inappropriate amusement. What, did he think she was cute when she was angry?  
Jack was amused. He happened to think she was cute when she was angry. Nicki was still pissed.

The long walk on the pretty afternoon did a lot to ease Nicki's irritability. Of course she knew she might have overreacted just a little to the current situation. But dammit, Jack was not her CO; she was not even part of his program. He had no right to dictate what course of action her job required her for. Of course she knew Jack had nothing to do with their current predicament. Tires went flat. And of course she knew he'd never say 'I told you so.' As for his argument, she could see his point. He didn't want her to go on the mission because he loved her. He'd seen her hurt before; he didn't want to see that again. She knew what his point was. She just wished he would open up, instead of hiding his real feelings behind a façade of amusement. But there was nothing she could do to change things, not the circumstances, and not his mind. But right at this moment, there was no fixing it. At least Jack looked like he was having a good time.  
Jack, who appeared to be having a blast, chewed on a piece of long grass and just ambled along like he was on a nature hike. He didn't mind, or at least pretended mot to mind, the fact that Nicki wasn't speaking. He'd learned long ago that women were not meant to be understood. At least on the surface. He knew he'd touched off a nerve when he'd made his opinion known. Nicki was a damn stubborn woman, and he should have realized that he was approaching the whole thing wrong. Even in his personal life he was coming off like a damn soldier. Who the hell was he after all, to be trying to give her an order? She wasn't his 2IC. He knew his skills in sensitivity were lacking here. And he knew he needed to work on them. But she was making it as difficult as he was.

"So, you think we'll be able to get a tow truck?" Nicki finally asked, breaking the silence and attempting to show Jack she at least felt like speaking again.  
  
"Yeah, or a ride into the nearest town to get a tire. Something'll work out," Jack said confidently.  
  
They walked on, although now the silence seemed more palatable. Jack reached for her hand and Nicki let him take it. It was sort of an agreement to disagree, for the moment, anyway.  
  
They found the farm they'd passed after walking about two miles. It looked large, with a nice house and huge barn and corrals. There was an old crop duster sitting beside the barn. It was an old shabby bi-plane, but looked like it had been well cared for in it's 50 years in service.  
  
Jack and Nicki walked up the long drive to the house. They saw an older man come out of the barn and head for the crop duster.  
  
Nicki knocked on the front door of the house. Maybe there was someone home?  
  
When there was no answer, Jack and Nicki headed for the barn.  
  
The man, in bib overalls and a dusty straw hat, appeared to be working on the engine of the circa 1950's bi-plane.  
  
"Hi there!" Jack greeted, coming toward the plane.  
The old man, his weather beaten face lined with age, climbed down from his step ladder. "Howdy," he greeted, looking at the two strangers.  
  
"Our car has a flat and a flat spare. We were wondering if we could borrow your phone?" Nicki said then.  
  
"Oh, well, I'd like to oblige, but the phone company turned that off 'bout two weeks ago." He wiped of his hand, which was covered with oil from the plane's engine, on an old rag from his pocket. "Name's Emmet." He stuck out his hand.  
  
Jack shook his hand. "Jack O'Neill. This is Nicole. We're from Colorado Springs."  
  
Emmet scratched his head of thinning gray hair. "Well, you sure got a ways to go." Jack and Nicole glanced at each other. His drawl was rather unexpected here in the lower Colorado region. He looked like he belonged in a Rockwell portrait and it was hard not to smile at his earnestness.  
  
"Can we buy a tire somewhere?" Nicki asked, then.

"Sure. In town." He glanced at his watch. "But they're closed."  
  
"Even the super Wal-Mart?"

"Aw, we ain't got a Wal-Mart," Emmet said with a smile to Nicki. "Just Bob's Tires."  
  
Nicki smiled then, the first real smile of the day. Jack noticed this and was again blown away by the way she looked. Why hadn't she been smiling at him like that? Oh yeah, he was being a first class horses' ass, that's why.  
  
Nicki looked over at Jack. He shrugged.  
  
"Well, Mr. Emmet, can you give us a lift to the nearest motel?"  
  
Emmet smiled again. "Just Emmet. Callin' me Mister's like putting an escalator in the barn. Got no motels 'round here. Miss Emily down to the post office owns a bed and breakfast—"

"That'll do," Nicki said hastily.  
"But she's gone to visit her mother in Alamosa. Won't be back till next week."  
  
Jack ran a hand through his hair. "Well, it looks like we're kinds up a creek."  
  
Emmet nodded. "Well, you two honest folks? Not gonna rob a fellow of all his earthly possessions?" the corners of his eyes creased with enjoyment at his own gentle jab at humor.  
  
Nicki looked at Jack, who glanced at her.  
  
"I'm a Colonel in the Air Force and she's a Major. We almost qualify, I think," Jack said.  
  
Emmet chuckled. "Well, you're all welcomed to stay here. In the morning, I'll run 'ya to town and you can get that tire."

"Oh, we don't want to put you out—" Nicki began.  
  
Jack elbowed her.  
  
"That'd be great," Jack said with another smile.  
  
"Good. I've got a stew on for supper. Should be 'bout ready."  
  
So it seems, that was settled.  
  
"It looks like you were working on your plane when we got here. Anything I can help with?" Jack asked.

Emmet shrugged. "Well, she's been coughing a lot lately. Only work I get is dusting and I cain't do that with my plane all bummed up and a'coughin' and sputterin' like an asthmatic."

"Well, how about I take a look at it?"  
  
"I always 'preciate a new pair of eyes. Have at 'er."  
  
Jack climbed up on the ladder.  
  
"Miss, you're welcome to go on into the house. Make yourself to home. Got a spare room just down from the kitchen. Clean towels and the like in the powder room if you wanna freshen up."  
  
Nicki nodded uncertainly. "Don't mind if I do," she said. "Thanks."

Nicki headed for the house, feeling a little bizarre about this whole thing. She wasn't at all used to the kind of 'down home' hospitality Emmet was showing them. She had to admit, there weren't many like him around these days.  
  
She found everything just as Emmet had said. She washed up and noticed that for an apparently single man, Emmet kept an immaculately tidy house. Nicki was curious about her host, and since he and Jack were still out busy with the plane, she explored the house, with some guilty reservation. She noticed in the kitchen, his cupboards were well stocked and there were two loaves of fresh bread on the counter. His bread maker stood nearby. There was a delicious smell wafting from the crock-pot on the opposite counter. Nicki couldn't help but feel her stomach rumble when she checked under the lid of the slow cooker. It looked like a roast of some kind with potatoes, carrots, and onions.  
  
Nicki noticed the only TV in the house was an ancient 70's model in the living room. And it looked like the house had been decorated around that period as well, with not many changes since. She spotted a framed black and white photograph on the wall in the hall. It was a soldier and his bride, probably taken in the 40's. She deduced it was probably Emmet and his wife on their wedding day. So he had been married. But no woman had frequented the house lately. The only other pictures in the house were of planes. Mostly old models, an ancient B-52 and it's crew, again a black and white photo; several World War two fighter planes, complete with artwork on the nose. A pilot, presumably Emmet, stood in front of his plane proudly displaying a painted bathing suit clad blond woman and the name 'Jenny' just below the cockpit. Well, no wonder he and Jack had seemed to hit it off immediately. She imagined Emmet would have some fascinating WW2 stories.  
  
She flipped through several issues of Reader's Digest for the next half hour while Jack and his new friend fiddled with the old biplane.  
  
They finally came in, both grinning.  
  
"Well, after dinner, we'll see if you're right about that fuel line," Emmet was saying.  
Nicki stood in the kitchen as they came in. "Well, now you kids help yourselves to supper. Got fresh bread on the counter there, fresh milk in the ice box."  
  
Jack, Nicole and Emmet sat down at the kitchen table once they'd helped themselves to the home cooked bounty.  
"So, Emmet, you live alone out here?" Nicki asked, curious about their kindly benefactor.  
He nodded, buttering his bread. "Yep. Been alone since 1987, when the missus passed on. But I get along. Work's been slow of late, what with the crop prices dropping, but I grow my own vegetables, got my sweet Louise out to the barn for milk. Yessir, I get by alright."

"I couldn't help but notice the photographs," Nicki said. "You were a pilot in the war?"

Emmet smiled a bit. "Well, yes, I was. But that was a long time ago." Nicki could tell he wasn't in the mood to talk about it just then. She ate with a ravenous appetite. Nothing she could think of had ever tasted as good as this home cooked meal.  
"Emmet, you're a darn good cook," Jack said then, as if reading her mind.  
Emmet patted his belly. "As you can see, I ain't starved to death. Got me that bread makin' machine last year, and been hooked ever since." "Well, it's terrific," Nicki assured him, getting another slice of the honey wheat bread.  
After dinner, the three ventured back out to the barn.  
  
Emmet, Jack and Nicki walked over to the old biplane.

"Well, Jack, you said you was a pilot. Lets see if you know your stuff." "I think I might have a vague idea of how to fly one of these," Jack said with a shrug. "But I don't think I will."  
  
Emmet then looked at Nicole. "Well, looks like its up to you then," he said with a smile, gesturing that she should get in the plane.  
"Oh, well, Emmet, it's your plane. You go ahead," she said, blushing a little.

Emmet shook his head. "Hell, if that fuel pump don't hold out. You think I wanna crash?" he asked, then burst into laughter.  
  
Jack chuckled. "Come on. It'll be fun." He and Nicole climbed into the antique. But Jack didn't head for the front. Nicole looked at him oddly as he took a seat in the back. He grinned. He'd been serious. He wanted her to fly.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" he asked her.  
"You want me to fly?" Jack nodded. Nicki, still a little reluctant, looked back at Emmet, who grinned up at them both.

"Well, go on," he urged Nicki. "A better ride you won't soon find."  
  
As Nicki fiddled with the controls, Jack was grinning. "Emmet's an old WW2 pilot you know. The damn engine's so clean on this baby, you could eat off it." The plane sputtered to life with a chocking cough and a plume of smoke, but as the propeller began to rotate faster and faster, the noise evened out. Nicki manipulated the controls in the forerunner to those jets she loved. Ah, but this was real flying. This was take hold, watch where you're going, get outta my way, old fashioned flying.  
Nicki taxied out onto the old tarmac Emmet used as a runway. "I wish this thing had seat belts!" Jack yelled good-naturedly over the engine's roar.  
  
The old plane built up speed down the runway and the Air Force Major coaxed it into a perfect take off.  
  
In a few moments, the skilled pilot steered the old red plane in the sky above the green valleys and rocky hills, fields of hay and every imaginable crop. Nicki let the cool air hit her face, imagining how it must have been back in the old days, flying one of these every day. She looked over the side at the distant ground, where cows looked like little dots on the green meadow carpet. God, how she'd loved to fly. She knew this was as close as she'd ever get to the skies again.  
  
Jack was enjoying this as much as she. It was a far separation from Mach 2, infrared displays, Stinger missiles, and computerized controls. Nicki knew he was imagining how it must have been to be a pilot back then, in dogfights with other equally equipped dinosaurs. What a thrill!  
  
Nicole dipped the wings to and fro, dived, and then climbed again.  
  
They watched the dazzling sunset began in a fury of reds, oranges and pinks. Nicki finally turned and headed back to Emmet's farm as the sun began to sink behind the Rocky Mountains.  
Nicki was grinning from ear to ear as she made a perfect landing and coasted the plane to a stop back near the barn. Emmet, sitting in an old metal lawn chair outside sipping a glass of tea, was grinning just as big.  
Jack helped Nicole down from the plane. "That was terrific!" Jack said boisterously.  
  
Nicki grinned back at him. She was beyond words. That had been truly the trill of a lifetime. Though she'd never be able to fly a military jet again, she now knew she was still a pilot. She hadn't 'lost it.' And she wondered if Jack and Emmet had conspired to show her that, or if it was just her imagination.  
And Jack? He was like a kid at Christmas. He was practically skipping as they headed over to where Emmet sat, a pitcher of tea and some glasses waiting for them on an old wire spool.  
  
"Ya'll have fun?" he asked, pouring the tea.  
  
"It was incredible!" Nicki assured him  
  
Jack nodded in agreement. "You forget sometimes how good the simple things are." And that's when she realized just how great this trip was turning out, despite twists and turns it had taken to get here. Perhaps it really wasn't the destination, but the journey that was the real purpose. And getting to fly again? That was worth four flat tires. Jack letting her take control, in a small way let her know that he trusted her skills. And that he was prepared to deal with the consequences of them.  
  
She looked at Jack then, sitting in one of the lawn chairs. It was almost as if he were reading her mind. He smiled and gave her a wink. And Nicki returned the smile.  
  
They sat and drank tea. The old man was ready to talk then, and told them tales of his days as a pilot back in 'the Big One' until long after sunset. Jack was enthralled, just like a little boy might be, listening to bedtime stories of times past. Nicki was amazed at the sights and events the casual octogenarian spoke about. He had a fascinating life. Jack couldn't help but compare the war of long past to the new wars they fought now, especially with the Goa'uld. Maybe, if someday it were all over, he'd be able to share his stories like Emmet was doing now.  
  
"Aw, heck, I've kept you kids up boring you with my tall tales long enough. 'Sides, it's past this old timer's bed time," Emmet finally said, getting up from the chair and stretching. They went back into the house and Emmet showed them his spare room, which looked like it hadn't been used in some time, but was neatly made up with a white chintz spread on the four poster double bed.  
"We really appreciate all your hospitality," Nicki said again to the old man before they retired.  
"Aw, glad to have some company 'round here once in a while. And I'm mighty happy Jack here got old Betty flying right again."

Jack shrugged. "My pleasure." "Well, you two get some shut eye and in the mornin', we'll get that tire and get you on your way."  
  
Jack and Nicole lay in the comfortable bed listening to nothing but crickets chirping through the open window and an occasional distant dog barking or owl hooting. Jack, in his boxers, rolled over, leaning up on elbow.  
  
Nicki, who was sleeping in his tee shirt, looked at him in the light from the moon.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Isn't this great?"  
  
"What?" she asked again, referring to what he was talking about this time.  
"Just…this? The farm, the food, the place, the plane, Emmet…us?" Nicki smiled. "Yeah," she agreed. "It is. All of it."  
  
For a moment, he was quiet again, then in a lower tone, Jack spoke again. "I was wrong when I told you not to go with SG-8. I can't make demands like that. Just because I'm so completely in love with you." Nicki smiled in the moonlight filtering in the window.

"You let me fly today Jack. So I know you trust me. I hope you trust me enough to let me choose what's right for my career."

Jack reached over and pulled her closer, as if she would melt away from him into the night sky and disappear.  
  
"Nicole," he whispered into her ear, "I'm not a guy with a lot of words, but whatever you do, I'm behind you a hundred percent. I trust you to make good decisions. It doesn't stop me from worrying when you go through on missions."  
  
" Just like I worry about you," she said, her voice muffled in his chest. "I will always, always, come back to you, Jack. I love you."  
  
FIN  
  
_When I think back on these times And the dreams left behind I'll be glad cause I was blessed To get to have you in my life  
  
When I look back on these days I'll look and see your face You were right there for me  
  
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky In my heart there will always be a place for you For all my life I'll keep a part of you with me And everywhere I go there you'll be.  
  
"There You'll Be," Faith Hill_


End file.
